Hard Working Lawyers For Hard Working People

If you're a crew member or injured worker, the riverboat companies and insurance companies are not your friends. Their main goal is to deny your claim by attempting to establish that you are not injured or that you were completely at fault for your injuries.

Instead of trying to understand the law or grapple with the insurance adjusters on your own, you want an experienced team of lawyers on your side to fight these companies.

At the Memphis, Tennessee, law firm of Godwin, Morris, Laurenzi & Bloomfield, P.C., we are ready to stand with you, take the fight to the insurance companies and put our experience to work for you in your riverboat injury claim.

What Is The Jones Act? ∙ Can I Get Unlimited Recovery For My Injuries?

Sometimes called The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, the Jones Act is a set of laws that are very favorable to riverboat workers and other qualifying maritime workers who have been injured on the job. The Jones Act allows:

Unlimited recovery: Unlike workers' compensation claims, there is no legal ceiling on the recovery for riverboat crew members injured in the service of the vessel.

Maintenance and cure: If you become ill or injured while in service of the vessel, you can recover for maintenance and cure, which represents the cost of room and board during your injury and the medical expenses required to remedy your injuries. We will work to get that payment as high as possible.

Failure to pay maintenance and cure: If the riverboat company fails to pay you maintenance and cure, we can potentially recover punitive damages and attorney's fees as well as the damages if your injuries were worsened because of this failure to pay.

Unseaworthiness: If your riverboat injury was a result of the boat's unseaworthiness, or the riverboat company's failure to provide adequate equipment, proper training or a big enough crew, the riverboat company is legally bound to compensate you for all your medical bills, lost time off work and pain and suffering, regardless of fault.

The Jones Act covers people who are permanently assigned to a fleet of vessels, including crew members, deckhands, captains, pilots, mates, tankermen, cooks and roughnecks. For more information, please visit our Jones Act FAQs page.

Identifying The Many Types Of Riverboat Injuries

There are many types of injuries that can occur in riverboat accidents as well as in incidents involving barges or tow vessels. These injuries are similar to any personal injury, work-related injury, railroad injury or maritime tort claim — all claims that our firm regularly handles. Examples of these injuries include:

Serious injuries due to a slip and fall on the deck

Back injuries

Neck injuries

Broken bones

Lifting injuries/shoulder injuries

Crush injuries

Injuries resulting in wrongful death

Even if you don't see your specific injury listed, go ahead and give us a call to speak with our lawyers and determine if you have a legitimate claim.

You Pay No Attorneys' Fees Unless We Win Your Case

When handling injury claims, we work on a contingency fee basis, which means that you do not pay our attorney's fees unless you recover damages. We offer free, confidential injury consultations and look forward to speaking with you.

Either call our office in Shelby County, overlooking the Mississippi, at 901-528-1702 or toll free at 800-582-6213 or send an email for a prompt response from our team.

The use of the Internet or this form for communication with the firm or any individual member of the firm does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Confidential or time-sensitive information should not be sent through this form.